]]>Fri, 09 Oct 2015 01:00:46 GMThttp://www.chipchopngrind.com/blog/fall-is-fallinglet-us-clean-up-those-leaves-so-you-can-watch-footballWe have large, medium, and small vacuum systems to clean up all signs of Autumn...leaving your property looking it's best, ready to impress and tackle all of those holiday parties!!

I was fortunate enough to take a few days off last week to attend a very good friends wedding. Not only did he marry a truly wonderful woman but it was also a grand time to reflect on the beauty of my surroundings! This picture is a view from the chair lift we took up to where the ceremony was performed at the top of a mountain in NY...what a sight!!

Not all leaves turn vivid colors in the fall. Only a few of our many species of deciduous trees—notably maple, aspen, oak, and gum—produce stellar performances for our annual autumn spectacular in North America.

Several factors contribute to fall color (temperature, precipitation, soil moisture), but the main agent is light, or actually the lack of it. The amount of daylight relates to the timing of the autumnal equinox.

As the autumn days grow shorter, the reduced light triggers chemical changes in deciduous plants causing a corky wall to form between the twig and the leaf stalk.

This "abscission layer" eventually causes the leaf to drop off in the breeze. As the corky cells multiply, they seal off the vessels that supply the leaf with nutrients and water and also block the exit vessels, trapping simple sugars in the leaves. The combination of reduced light, lack of nutrients, and no water add up to the death of the pigment chlorophyll, the "green" in leaves.

Once the green is gone, two other pigments show their bright faces. These pigments, carotene (yellow) and anthocyanin (red), exist in the leaf all summer but are masked by the chlorophyll. (The browns in autumn leaves are the result of tannin, a chemical that exists in many leaves, especially oaks.)

Sugar trapped in autumn leaves by the abscission layer is largely responsible for the vivid color. Some additional anthocyanins are also manufactured by sunlight acting on the trapped sugar. This is why the foliage is so sparkling after several bright fall days and more pastel during rainy spells. In general, a wet growing season followed by a dry autumn filled with sunny days and cool, frostless nights produces the most vibrant palette of fall colors.

Of course, if freezing temperatures and a hard frost hits, it can kill the process within the leaf and lead to poor fall color. Also, drought conditions during late summer and early fall can trigger an early “shutdown” of trees as they prepare for winter, causing leaves to fall early from trees without reaching their full color potential.

Does your area experience fall foliage? Some level of autumn foliage changes in many regions on North America. However, it is the northern tier of states, especially New England, that hold the jackpot for leaf peepers. A combination of the right climate and light conditions and an abundance of the tree varieties that hoard colorful pigments come together there.

While tradition has it that Columbus Day weekend is when the color peaks in New England, the mythical maximum occurs in northern Maine in mid- to late September and "travels" south, reaching the Connecticut shore by late October.

If you have never had a tree removed from your landscape, you may assume that the stump removal will be included. This step is often in addition to the removal of the trunk and canopy, not wrapped into the package. The fastest, easiest, and safest way to remove a stump is through stump grinding.

How Stump Grinding WorksIn this process, a stump grinder is used to chip away the wood. The blade of the grinder is a metal wheel with teeth, somewhat resembling a circular saw. Removing the stump of a tree will not only improve the aesthetics of your lawn, it will also protect the health of your remaining forestry by reducing the risk of tree decay.

]]>Wed, 10 Dec 2014 16:54:33 GMThttp://www.chipchopngrind.com/blog/3200-year-old-tree-captured-in-a-single-photoIt takes a special kind of tree to have a nickname. "The President" is one of those trees. The giant sequoia stands 247 feet tall, measures 45,000 cubic feet in volume, and is an estimated 3,200 years old.

The trunk is 27 feet wide and the his mighty branches hold 2 billion needles, the most of any tree on the planet.

On top of that, he still adds one cubic meter of wood per year - making him one of the fastest growing trees in the world.

Giant sequoias exist in only one place, where The President and smaller trees that make up his "House" and "Senate", reside.

On the western slope of the Sierra Nevadas in California, at 5000-8000 ft above sea level.Until now, the tree had never been photographed in its entirety.

A team of photographers from National Geographic worked with scientists from the park to be the first.It took an intricate set of pulleys and levers to scale the tree, which some argue is the largest in the world (taking width into account).

After 32 days and stitching together 126 separate photos, we are left with this breathtaking portrait of The President.

]]>Wed, 10 Dec 2014 16:26:29 GMThttp://www.chipchopngrind.com/blog/6-reasons-why-you-should-remove-that-tree-stumpBefore you have a tree removal specialist cut down the dead tree in your yard, you'll need to decide whether the worker should remove the tree stump as well. If you're having a hard time making this judgment call, consider these factors when deciding what to do with the stump.

Stumps aren't pretty. Aesthetically speaking, the sight of a stump definitely isn't appealing. If you're meticulous about your yard and landscaping, removing the stump is well worth it.

Stumps are hazardous. Stumps are dangerous to your children. When running and playing in your yard, they may not look for the stump and trip over it. And if a neighbor trips, it's a liability that falls into your hands. In addition, tree stumps can damage your mower if you accidentally hit one when you're mowing your lawn.

Stumps cause new tree growth. Sometimes leaving the stump behind contributes to new sprouts, which can result in many small trees growing around the stump. This is unsightly to your landscaping and quite costly to try to remove because the new shoots may keep coming back, and you may need chemicals to kill them off completely. These small trees also leech nutrients from other plants located near them, so your begonias may not receive all the nutrients they need.

Stumps are a pain to maneuver around. Remaining tree stumps become a nuisance, an obstacle you have to maneuver around when weeding or mowing your lawn.

Stumps attract insects. When you leave stumps in your lawn, the decaying tree takes a long time to rot away completely. While it's decaying, the stump attracts beetles, termites, ants and other wood-boring pests. You may not mind them in your yard, but they can eventually spread to your home.

Stumps take up precious yard space. Especially if you don't have a very large yard, the space you lose from the stump and roots may occupy a lot of space. Just think: You can use that space for a flowerbed or a picnic table.

Typically, you'll spend extra money to grind down the stumps, but it just might be well worth it.